STAND. COM. REP. NO. 2710

 

Honolulu, Hawaii

                  

 

RE:    S.B. No. 2411

       S.D. 2

 

 

 

Honorable Ronald D. Kouchi

President of the Senate

Twenty-Eighth State Legislature

Regular Session of 2016

State of Hawaii

 

Sir:

 

     Your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means, to which was referred S.B. No. 2411, S.D. 1, entitled:

 

"A BILL FOR AN ACT RELATING TO LAW ENFORCEMENT CAMERAS,"

 

beg leave to report as follows:

 

     The purpose and intent of this measure is to:

 

     (1)  Establish requirements for body-worn cameras and vehicle cameras for county police departments; and

 

     (2)  Appropriate funds as a grant-in-aid to each county for the purchase of body-worn video cameras and law enforcement vehicle cameras; provided that no funds appropriated to a county shall be expended unless they are matched dollar-for-dollar by the county.

 

     Your Committees received testimony in support of this measure from the Office of Information Practices, American Civil Liberties Union, IMUAlliance, and four individuals.  Your Committees received testimony in opposition to this measure from the Police Department, County of Kauai; Police Department, County of Hawaii; State of Hawaii Organization of Police Officers; Civil Beat Law Center for the Public Interest; and three individuals.

 

     Your Committees find that an increasing number of jurisdictions are addressing the issue of body-worn cameras and vehicle cameras being used by law enforcement officers.  Body-worn cameras and vehicle cameras are useful for collecting evidence by police officers for use in court, as well as resolving incidents of alleged misconduct by officers.  Implementation of this measure will increase public safety and assist law enforcement agencies with training, assessment, and disciplinary decisions.

 

     Your Committees have amended this measure by:

 

     (1)  Inserting language to clarify that a police officer on duty may use a body-worn camera on the grounds of a school when responding to a call for service or during an enforcement encounter, rather than when responding to an imminent threat to life or health;

 

     (2)  Inserting language to clarify that a person is prohibited from releasing a recording created with a body-worn camera under this measure unless the person first obtains the permission of the applicable state law enforcement agencies, in addition to the applicable county police department;

 

     (3)  Inserting language to require that body-worn camera video footage be retained for one year for non-criminal cases from the date it was recorded and for the period of the applicable criminal statute of limitations for criminal cases, rather than six months for all cases;

 

     (4)  Requiring video footage to be permanently deleted after expiration of the applicable period, rather than the expiration of a six-month period;

 

     (5)  Prohibiting certain video footage from being viewed by any immediate supervisor, rather than superior officer, of a law enforcement officer;

 

     (6)  Inserting language to authorize each law enforcement agency to set policies for random auditing by the agency's respective internal affairs section;

 

     (7)  Deleting specific appropriation amounts;

 

     (8)  Inserting an effective date of January 7, 2059, to encourage further discussion; and

 

     (9)  Making technical, nonsubstantive amendments for the purposes of clarity and consistency.

 

     Your Committees note that an appropriation of $1,350,000 is necessary for the purchase of body-worn video cameras and law enforcement vehicle cameras to be used by each county police department to successfully implement this measure, including $700,000 to the City and County of Honolulu, $250,000 to the County of Maui, $250,000 to the County of Hawaii, and $150,000 to the County of Kauai.

 

     As affirmed by the records of votes of the members of your Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means that are attached to this report, your Committees are in accord with the intent and purpose of S.B. No. 2411, S.D. 1, as amended herein, and recommend that it pass Third Reading in the form attached hereto as S.B. No. 2411, S.D. 2.

 

Respectfully submitted on behalf of the members of the Committees on Judiciary and Labor and Ways and Means,

 

________________________________

JILL N. TOKUDA, Chair

 

________________________________

GILBERT S.C. KEITH-AGARAN, Chair